Kořeny československé volební reformy připravované v druhé polovině osmdesátých let dvacátého století
Origins of the Czechoslovak Electoral Reform Proposed in the Late 1980s

Summary/Abstract: This article presents and describes the evolution of discussions about reform of the electoral system regarding representative bodies in communist Czechoslovakia in the late eighties; in addition, it also deals with specific proposed versions of electoral reform at that time and their potential consequences for the political system. The article starts with a brief overview of the special role of uncompetitive and undemocratic elections and their mechanisms in Central and Eastern Europe during the Communist era. Then, the origins of the proposed electoral reform in Czechoslovakia are described. Next, two alternative proposals from the time, and their possible consequences are introduced. In the last part, the paper analyzes the parliamentary by-elections of 1989 in Czechoslovakia that were held in new conditions of electoral competition (plurality of candidates), wherein one of the proposed versions of the electoral reform was used.

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